Specialisms:

Mat-based Pilates

Prenatal Pilates Exercise

Postnatal Pilates Exercise

Osteopathy

Biomechanics of the body (structure / anatomy)

Physiology of the body (function / how it works)

Directions:

Each of my professional areas of life are connected by a fascination for the way the human body works and a passion for education.

I educate large groups of undergraduate students when I teach anatomy (the structure of the body) and physiology (how it works) at university.

I educate small groups of Pilates clients when I teach mat-based classes.

I educate individuals that I see either as patients in my Osteopathy clinic or in 1-2-1 Pilates sessions.

Giving a client the knowledge that they need to understand how their body works, and why it sometimes doesn’t work as we’d like it to, is the key to creating lasting changes.

I first started Pilates, myself, in 1998 and over the years noticed how beneficial it was to my own posture and overall health. In 2004 I set out to become a mat-based Pilates instructor (qualifying first as an aerobics instructor and then a Pilates instructor in 2005) and I have since seen the benefits of Pilates in many clients time after time. I have always been interested in pregnancy and how the body adapts to cope with the rapid and dramatic changes that the body undergoes in the time leading up to having a baby and the year or so afterwards. Most women are aware of the physical changes that occur – bigger boobs and a bump change her posture and may cause aches and pains, but other changes happen too. By the time a normal healthy woman gives birth her heart has increased in size by a third (to cope with the extra demands from the growing baby) and she is probably at the peak of cardiovascular fitness (but she doesn’t usually feel it)! Hormonal changes soften ligaments that usually support joints, enabling the pelvis to widen to facilitate child-birth, but this may also place extra strain on joints sometimes causing pelvic, hip or knee pain. These changes and the implications to how women should or shouldn’t exercise at this time led me to qualifying as a pre- and post-natal exercise instructor (Pilates based), and becoming a member of the Guild of Pregnancy and Postnatal Exercise Instructors in 2006. Since then I have attended many specialist workshops and update courses in this area. In 2012 I qualified as an Osteopath, giving me a far deeper understanding of the body.

My knowledge of the changes that occur during and after pregnancy enable me to adapt a class, session or treatment for each woman as she experiences these different phases of her life. Tailored Pilates-based exercises (in groups or 1-2-1) let the client work actively on her own posture, stability, strength and suppleness, whilst Osteopathic treatment (manual therapy including joint movements, massage and stretches) may be beneficial for clients with more significant problems or pain.